WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz today announced that 14 teams of middle and high school students won their regional competitions for the 2014 National Science Bowl this past weekend and are advancing to the National Finals in Washington, D.C., in April.

“The National Science Bowl challenges students to excel and heightens their interest in fields vital to America’s continued scientific advancement,” Energy Secretary Moniz said. “Congratulations to these students for advancing to the National Finals. I wish them the best of luck in the competition.”

The National Science Bowl brings together thousands of middle and high school students from across the country to compete in a fast-paced question-and-answer format where they solve technical problems and answer questions on a range of science disciplines including biology, chemistry, Earth and space science, physics and math.

The teams that won their qualifying regional competitions this past weekend and are advancing to the National Finals are:

Alabama: Grissom High School in Huntsville

California: University High School in Irvine

Colorado: Lesher Middle School in Fort Collins

Kansas: Blue Valley West High School in Overland Park

Mississippi:

Oxford Middle School in Oxford

Oxford High School in Oxford

Missouri: Fort Zumwalt South High School in St. Peters

Nebraska: Luz Middle School in Lincoln

Nevada: The Meadows School in Las Vegas

Oregon: Westview High School in Beaverton

Tennessee: Jefferson Middle School in Oak Ridge

Texas: Dulles High School in Sugar Land

Virginia: Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria

West Virginia: Morgantown High School in Morgantown

A series of regional middle school and high school tournaments are being held across the country from January through March. Winners will advance to April’s National Science Bowl in Washington, D.C., for the final middle school and high school competitions.

The top 16 high school teams and the top eight middle school teams in the National Finals will win $1,000 for their schools’ science departments. Prizes for the top two high school teams for the 2014 National Science Bowl will be announced at a later date.

The high school team that won the 2013 National Science Bowl received a nine-day, all-expenses-paid science trip to Alaska, where they learned more about glaciology, marine and avian biology, geology and plate tectonics. The second-place high school team at the 2013 National Science Bowl won a five-day, fully guided adventure tour of several national parks, which included a whitewater rafting trip.

More than 225,000 students have participated in the National Science Bowl since it was established in 1991, and it is one of the nation’s largest science competitions. Approximately 14,000 students competed in the National Science Bowl last year and more are expected to participate this year.

DOE’s Office of Science manages the National Science Bowl Finals competition. More information is available on the National Science Bowl website.